1924 Spanish 7mm Mauser

O

Oz2Alaska

Inactive
Woohoo, first post.

So i'm a big fan of older wooden surplus rifles. I've always had the desire to at one point make one a bit of a tack driver while still keeping it fairly normal looking.

So I picked a 7x57 1924 spanish mauser. The ballistics on the round seem quite good. At heavier loads it makes for a great wilderness rifle here. It's wooden stock is in good condition, the action works fine and it fires just fine. The barrel is a bit shot out and the crown is looking chipped. The dovetail iron sights on it are absolutely garbage - especially when it's sunny out here in Alaska. I can shoot groups at 25m, at 50 meters I keep it fairly consistent to the right half of the target and at 100m I have 3/5 rounds on the paper and I have to do some kentucky windage just to get that.

So I was thinking the first order of buisness would be to get a peep sight. I was thinking about a Lyman or a williams sight. What do you think?

Next thing would be getting a decent barrel from Krieger. I would cerakote it black to make it match the rifle.

After that I would take it to a gunsmith and have the barrel properly bedded and installed. I will hold off on any trigger modifications until It seems necessary.

Ideally at the end of this, I will probably have paid a good chunk of cash but I will have a fun rifle that looks cool to shoot. What do you think of my plans?
 
I love the old Spanish 93s. I have built several of them over the years. I have paid as much as $100 for one, as little as "just take it". They can be fun, but realize going into it that if you put $600 into that rifle, it will still be a $100 rifle. If you want a fun old Mauser to hunt with and tote around, you might want to consider a 98.
 
There's nothing wrong with the 7mm Mauser. However, a Spanish Mauser isn't worth a huge pile of money to collectors. Roughly $200 to $300ish depending on the condition. However, if you do anything to it, it'll be worth even less.
Plus the cost of building a sporter isn't cheap. That Krieger barrel will run you more than a Spanish Mauser is worth. Prices start at $325.00.
You'd be better to buy an entry level hunting rifle.
 
OP it is absolutely up to you what you do with your rifle and your money. I'm with the guys above if you want a accurate rifle to hunt with a entry level budget rifle is a great start. (Savage, Ruger, Mossberg, Tikka,) I'm sure there are others. If you like the ballistics of the 7mm Mauser get a rifle chambers in 7mm-08 ammo will be more common and cheaper too.
 
7x57 Spanish

Oz2Alaska, first off, Welcome to "thefiringline", great folks here that are always willing to lend a hand, offer knowledge.

As for the Spanish Mauser, a peep sight should certainly improve your groups compared to the original iron sights,
Williams is my personal preference, because I have experience with them, I'm sure the Lyman is fine also,
after-market barrels can be had at reasonable prices, (I've seen some on flea-bay) around $100 bucks, but as
T O'Heir said prices can go up quick.

I built a 1931 Spanish 1893 for my son a few years back, with a
Boyd's stock = $78
Bold trigger = $50
Leupold rings & mounts = $60
Adam's & Bennett barrel = $98 (7x57)
cheap scope = $100
rifle to start with = $100

total = $486 + about $100 for shipping on everything
net result = about 1-1/2" @ 100 yds and 3" @ 200 yds

Am I happy ? YES! Would I do it again ?? Absolutely !!
If you love to tinker, go for it! For me it's more fun to "build it" and "shoot it" t han just "buy it" and "shoot it".
But I also reload as well, and most of my guns, have never seen a round of factory ammo. :D
I keep my loads reasonable for the 7x57 Spanish Mauser action, 140 grn @ 2500-2600 fps and 160 grn @ 2300-2400 fps, if you want more power go to a 98 action!
You can turn up the volume a little more with a 7x57 in a 98 platform.
 
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I put a Spanish Mauser on layaway at my local Pawnshop, I like you want to make it more shoot able for me so I plan to have my Smith drill and tap for scope base and turn my bolt handle down.
Mine has a Springfield Armory import engraving just behind front sight. It has been reblued, but is still in military config.
The 7x57 mauser cartridge from what I hear from those that know say it's a wonderful cartridge that is accurate and easy on the shoulder so I'm all in, BTW, paid 269.00 for mine, but at the time didn't have all the loose cash to buy her out, but it's gonna be soon...
 
Welcome aboard Oz2AK,
I understand the attraction to older rifles. 7x57 is an intriguing combination of power and finesse.
If you're committed to doing the customization work yourself using the components you've listed, then it sounds like you already have a solid plan. You will learn a lot and enjoy the experience.
Alternately, if you look around patiently, you can probably find something very similar to what you're looking for on gunbroker or auction arms or the like (I'm not affiliated with either), for a comparative price. As my pappy once told me "any money you don't spend, you get to keep."
 
My 7x57 is my most accurate hunting rifle (At 100 yards anyway). I used to shoot 175 Grain bullets, but now use 139 grain. The switch over showed almost no difference in grouping. Maybe I just lucked into a really good barrel. I think you will really like the 7x57.
 
The goal is to have a mauser. Nothing short of that. I could spend money on a new precision rifle. It would have a better resale value.

But I like fixing up odd things. I've always wanted to turn a Minivan into an overland vehicle, to build my own white trash houseboat with a camper, and so on. It's who I am.
 
"The goal is to have a mauser. Nothing short of that. I could spend money on a new precision rifle. It would have a better resale value."

If that is the primary goal, little else is important. If you are talking about a VZ24 Mauser in 7x57, that is a very good base on which to build. If you're looking at a 93/95 type action, I'd move along. There was/is a reason the Mauser 98 is considered an improvement over the older models.
Regarding the 7x57 cartridge: it is a great game taker. I've shot a bunch of deer with a 7x57 in a Mk10 Interarms commercial rifle. This is a modern steel M98 type capable of handling 50K handloads producing 7mm08 performance(or slightly better). IMHO the 7x57 is a better deer round than 8x57 as it sends a very capable deer bullet(139-140 grain) with less recoil and flatter trajectory than the 8mm.
 
Oz2AK:
The goal is to have a mauser.
Click to expand...

I agree with everything MoBuck says. If the desire isn't to tinker explicitly with a Spanish Mauser, then there are more recently produced 7mm rifles that have better metallurgy.
 
If you want a Mauser, don't overlook the Swede in 6.5x55 - it will do everything the 7x57 will; rifles are readily available and work great.
 
"The goal is to have a Mauser. Nothing short of that."

I hear where you are coming from. I have several milsurp Mausers I've put money into that frankly I'll never get back.I don't care, I have what I want.
If you're going to go into building something decent from an old military Mauser like a 1909 Argentine, be prepared to put out the coin. I got away cheap on my 1909 as the gunsmith was a friend and cut me some slack. Still, it was $3,500 and change. A couple of 1012 Chilean Mausers got worked on as well running about $900 less as they were not quite as fancy.
No, if you really want a Mauser and save a few bucks, hit the gun shows and look for a J.C. Higgins M50 or 51. Built on very nice FN Mauser actions with chrome lined barrel by High Stanard. Monkey Wards had rifles built on the same action and High standard had some decent rifles using that action. You can even find them with the Colt label if you're lucky although I haven't found one myself. :( Big thing with them is a lot of the prettifying labor work a milsurp would require has been done. I built my 7x57 on one and it's one I would never part with. My gunsmith charges somewhere around $50 or $60 an hour just to clean up a milsurp so one of the FN based department store FN Mausers are a money saver IMHO. They came in .270 Win. and 30-06 on the Sears guns. The only changes I would do is replace the Mickey Mouse trigger and restock if going cheap. A rebarrel for any cartridge with the 30-06 base will work just fine.
That's what I'd do if I were to do another build. Just something to think about.
Paul B.
 
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